“During the latter years of his life his health was good, or at most troubled at but rare intervals by slight indispositions, or by transient fits of gout....
“La Fayette’s sight was excellent; but of late his hearing had lost something of its delicacy, and the circumstance was the more perceptible whenever he felt indisposed. His perceptions, both morally and physically speaking, were keen, and he usually gave free vent to the manifestations of his agreeable impressions. Those of a contrary nature his strength of mind enabled him to support, or at least to dissemble, in order that he might spare his friends the knowledge of his sufferings.
“His physiognomy, which was habitually calm, gave a faithful reflection of the movements of his soul, and at times assumed much expression, though it was less under the influence of his sensations than of his sentiments. According to the circumstances in which he was placed, joy, hope, pity or gratitude, tenderness or severity, were by turns predominant in his eyes and in every feature of his countenance.
“His deportment was noble and dignified, but his gait, since the year 1803, was rather constrained, in consequence of the accident of a broken thigh, which compelled him to lean on his cane when walking, and prevented him from sitting down with ease and quickness, on account of a stiffness in the hip joint. His other movements were easy and natural, and though he had but little suppleness in his fingers, his gestures were graceful, and rarely abrupt, even in the moments when his conversation was most animated. The tone of his voice was naturally serious, soft, and agreeable, or strong and sonorous, according to the circumstances under which he spoke. When the subject of conversation was gay, he laughed heartily, but even the excess of his mirth was never displayed in sudden and violent bursts of laughter.
“He dined at home as often as possible, and his frugal meal invariably consisted of a little fish and the wing of a chicken; he drank nothing but water. I have not the least doubt that his sobriety and temperance, and the regularity of his regimen, greatly contributed to exempt him from the infirmities of old age.
“La Fayette’s dress was always extremely simple, and free from everything like pretension. He usually wore a long gray or dark-colored great-coat, a round hat, pantaloons, and gaiters, as represented in the full-length portrait executed some years ago by M. Scheffer, and which resembles him in every respect.
“He was remarkably clean and neat in his person, even to minuteness, and for this reason his valet de chambre, Bastien, who had been long in his service, and never quitted him, became at last indispensable for his comfort....
“During his latter years, La Fayette led an agreeable and regular existence, every instant of his time having its stated occupation. His moments of recreation were spent with his family, or amongst a circle of intimate friends, on whom he bestowed the hours not devoted to his legislative labors or to his numerous correspondents. He ever regarded time as a gift of which the best use was to be made, and, according to his own expression, ‘he was not at liberty to lose it himself, and still less to occasion the loss of it to others.’ If he was not always exact to the hour of appointment given or accepted by him, the multiplicity of his engagements and his preoccupation of mind were the cause of the delay; but in important cases his punctuality was praiseworthy.
“He never indulged in any of those social games to which people have recourse by way of amusement, or to kill time, as the phrase is generally used. He was fond of the country, and, when not detained in Paris by business, usually retired to La Grange, where his existence was altogether patriarchal.”
